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The gunship rocked with a thud as it touched down on the landing strip. Soldiers' cladded in identical white armor climbed out with the last passenger tripping over the edge and hitting the duracrete ground with an even harsher thud. The passenger wasn't a clone, or human for that matter, which made her stick out like a Wookie at an Alderaanian banquet. Her name was Seku, a Twi'lek holojournalist.

"Blast it," She muttered to herself as she got to her feet, making sure the bag containing her equipment wasn't damaged. Clumps of dry dust fell off her loose-fitting robes as she brushed it off.

Barely two feet away, the gunship took off again and slammed a gust of wind in her face, making her lekku sway widely. "Thanks for the ride," She sassed at the gunship. It may not be Coruscant but just because they were on Umbara doesn't mean they couldn't be polite.

Umbara… She winced a little as she realized she was alone on the landing strip of the recently captured airbase. The airbase had several runways lining its outer shell with a tall, electorally charged fence marking the border with thick glowing forests surrounding the entire area. Right smack in the center were the hangars that stored captured Umbaran vehicles and some of the Republics own support ships. The base itself was but a stone's throw away from the enemy's capital, which was under constant assault.

She didn't like field work though as she preferred the familiarity and safety of Coruscant's skyscrapers. Barely a week ago was she given an assignment from her editor to get excelling and breathtaking footage and accounts of the war. Umbara happened to be the hottest planet for fighting at the moment and it was three days in a civilian cruiser and another two in a navy battleship before she finally arrived. She was here now and she might as well make the best of it… without dying…

Digging into her bag she pulled out a handheld, still-shot holocam that captured single frame holographs. She snapped several shots of the outlying forest and focused in on holes in the fences that were created during the taking of the base. Next she took out her primary holocam, a boxy ten pounder with enough memory and battery to last for three days of continues use. With it she captured some thrilling sights like gunships zooming in and out of the hangars and clone troopers marching from building to building in tight formations.

A twinkle of green and blue caught her eye. It came from far away just over the top of the forest canopy. She used the zoom function on the holocam and used it like a pair of binocular. What she saw sent an icy chill down her spine.

It was a lone Republic fighter chasing after a squadron of weird looking craft which Seku guessed were enemy fighters. But what scared her was that the enemy fighters weren't fighting back but rather making a dead run towards the base, almost like they were diving at her.

Seku wanted to run for her life but she didn't for several reasons. The first was that the idea of dying at only twenty two years old paralyzed her. The second was the extremely up close shots she was getting with the ever approaching dogfight. A finally she saw the lone Republic fighter, a grey blur with wingtips projecting blue fire, was actually knocking done each fighter one by one and sending them to a fiery crash in the forest below.

One fighter was left as it came close enough for her to see the Umbaran pilot, face masked in a helmet filled with gas, starring right at her. His fighter was limping and ready to fall apart which wouldn't let it carry out the suicide run on the main buildings. But it would at least let the deranged pilot takeout one little, innocent bystander.

Seku wanted to close her eyes but instead she looked down at the view screen of the holocam, trying to pretend it was all in the video and not happening in real life. It would make her death much easier…

The Umbaran fighter came and went, burning right over her head as its wings were clipped away just half a second ago. The craft crashed and rolled fifty meters away and ended with a finale of explosions. The explosions were a warm burst of heat across her skin but it was no hotter than the sun of Ryloth on a good day. The fighter had died just fare away enough for her to be out of its kill radius.

Seku's legs finally buckled and she plopped down onto the duracrete ground, hands shaking with the camera still recording the fireball that had once been the suicide runner's ship. Her breathing was hard and irregular as her mind pounded itself in thoughts.

I'm okay… I'm okay… My heart still beats… I'm okay… I can still breathe… I'm okay… My camera still works… I'm okay…

She sat there for many minutes as she didn't move a muscle. The fire teams put out the blaze and carried away what was left of the Umbaran craft. She was then alone again with nothing but her camera to consult with.

Watching the video of her near death experience over and over again made it easier for her to accept what could've happened to her. As she watched to video for the tenth time she tapped the view screen to pause the recording right when the two fighters were right in front over her. Manipulating the touchscreen controls she focused in on the grey blur right behind the enemy fighter. The cockpit had a pilot in it with his helmet fixated forward on the enemy. If it wasn't for him, she'd be dead and…

Her head snapped upwards toward the sky, hoping to see if the pilot was still within sight. He was there, circling overhead in a perfect loop that was close to the ground. Immediately she switched the holocam to "capture mode" and used its remarkable lens to gaze at the pilot. The fighter was no longer a grey blur but rather an arrow shaped ship with a grey paintjob covering it. On the wing tips she read in Aurebesh "Shadow 12".

Wait… Shadow 12 as in Shadow Squadron! Her mind screamed. The Shadows were perhaps the most decorated and well-known combat squadron in the entire Republic Navy. No wonder her life was sparred, she had an elite pilot watching her back. Speaking of which, through her holocam, she saw the pilot inside the cockpit. He was starring right back at her.

Seku wondered if she was blushing for her freckled cheeks felt warm. Had he been circling the area just for me? To see if I was alright? Seku shook that thought right out of her head. Of course he wasn't, he just wanted to see if he got the kill or not. But still… he's been circling her for a while. It made her feel like the center of a solar system with a fasting moving planet revolving around her at a smooth and steady pace.

The two starred at each other from a galaxy away for several more minutes. The grey fighter eventually broke away and landed on one of the landing strips close to her. Seku moved her legs and they carried her over to the pilot coming out of the fighter. She told herself she wanted an interview but really, in her heart, she wanted to thank him for his heroism.

The pilot, a young clone downed in grey flight armor and a coat of sweat under it, turned away from the fighter to find the Twi'lek woman standing right in front of him. He tripped and fell back with surprise, knocking his head against his wings.

"Oh my stars, are you alright?" Seku said, reaching out to steady him as he wobbled. It must've been a series hit for him to be staggering as he was.

"Um yes I believe so," He tugged his helmet of and felt fresh air splash against his face for the first time in a dozen hours. "Just a little dizzy after that close call," He then saw, through the genetically enhanced that was given to all clone pilots, the woman clearly for the first time. A pair of lekku hung from the back of her head with grey stripes running down them. Her brown eyes glowed brightly with liveliness and were complimented by the light freckles across her yellow skinned cheeks. "Are you… okay?" He sounded awkward because, well, he never talked to or even seen a woman in his life.

"Yes, thanks to you." She extended a hand. "I'm Seku,"

The clone took the hand and made extra careful to take it gently. The woman looked fragile enough as it is. "My number is CT six two oh five… but my brothers call me Firefly."

"Firefly," She repeated first out loud and in her head. "Interesting name, how did you get it?"

Firefly considered telling her the reason behind but that was embracing enough to tell other clones. A woman's opinion just absolutely terrified him. "It's a long story," He wanted to hit himself giving such a transparent response. But Seku nodded with a smile.

"Well then," She paused as she realized why she thought she came over to talk to him. "I'm a holojournalist from Coruscant and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sparring a few minutes for an interview."

"An interview," He wondered. "You mean you want me to give a report in front of a camera?"

Seku giggled a little. "Not necessarily," She took her holocam to show him. "Just imagine this isn't there and you're talking to no one but me. I want to hear your honest account on just about everything like how you fight, why you fight and your opinion if it's right or not." She then grimaced as it she was asking a lot. "That is if you want an interview. I'll understand if you don't."

Oh no, not again. Firefly thought as he, and everyone in his squadron, knew that he wasn't the best talker. He was still as skittish and nervous as he was back on Kamino but his brothers have helped him loosen up a bit. But talking to Seku has flipped a switch that made him feel like CT - 6205 all over again. He was an elite pilot and yet he couldn't talk to a peer of the opposite sex? It would weigh him down forever if he didn't accept.

"Uh sure I've got time to um… talk." He put on a smile for he learned that it passed on good communication to the other speaker. More Kamino dogma but it at least was true. He agreed not because he felt pressured but because he really wanted to. He may not be a good talker but that didn't mean he didn't like it.

"Great!" She said a little too excitingly. "I mean um…" There was that blush again, blast it. "Thank you Firefly,"

"My pleasure Seku," Wow, he just called a woman by her name. It felt… good? Strange but good, got it.

A Twi'lek was one thing but a female was like a whole other universe to him, and he barely knew about the first one! He can nail a target a kilometer away in his Z-95 and yet it was a challenge to walk side by side to an attractive woman without blushing. If the brothers ever saw this…

Part one of a two… three… maybe four part ficlet series? I'd like to know if you fanfiction patrons think this is a good idea.

I myself take a television production class and I'm on my schools newspaper staff. I feel right at home writing about media and news.

As always thank you for reading. I greatly appreciate it.

xander867